CESSNOCK ADVERTISER COLUMN 13/11/2013

Posted by Joel Fitzgibbon257.20sc on November 13, 2013

Regular weekly column

Parliament is sitting this week for the first time since the September 7 election election. It can't possibly match the hung Parliament of the last three years but the 44th Parliament should be interesting.

One source of interest will be new-comer Clive Palmer. No one would accuse the billionaire mining magnate of being orthodox and he's sure to be colourful if nothing else.

One of the big issues this week is the Government's budget situation. Prior to the election Tony Abbott claimed the nation was facing a "budget emergency" and a "debt crisis" but since taking the Treasury benches he has raised the debt limit and discarded a number of savings initiatives the former government had taken. Watch this space!

The Parliament has been so slow to return because it's taken an unusually long time to get all the results in. It will meet this week and three of the next four.

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Last Wednesday was Thank a Paramedic Day, a day on which we officially show our appreciation to paramedics for the work they do every day of the year.

To all our paramedics; you serve our communities with the highest level of integrity, professional excellence and compassion. For your dedicated service, we say thank you! ************************

Congratulations to all of the Year 12 students across the electorate who recently completed their Higher School Certificate.

The HSC is an important measure of your dedication at school and it is often the entrance ticket into university and further study, but the HSC is only one narrow measure of you as people.

There are many other measures of you that judge whether or not you are good people, good friends, good parents, and good citizens in the community.

I think it is important to remember that you will all have the opportunity to make your mark on this world no matter what your HSC outcome. Good luck.

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